A transgender taxi driver who scooped £4 million on a scratchcard has blamed “nimby” neighbours for shattering her hopes of buying her dream home.

Melissa Ede, 57, is well-known in Hull for her off-the-wall online videos and appearances on day-time TV shows.

She said she had become "Mel the millionaire" following the win, just days after her partner, Rachel Nason, asked to marry her with a Christmas proposal.

After her win on December 30, Miss Ede vowed to continue with her media antics, which have seen her post a range of unusual video clips about her life, which have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

She has also appeared on programmes like The Jeremy Kyle Show.

She said the win and her engagement had made Christmas special for the first time in her life.

Miss Ede explained how she had the transition operation seven years ago and now wants to write a book about her "extraordinary life".

But now her hopes of getting a five-bed property have been spoiled - after she agreed to pay £440,000 for the posh pad complete with furniture.

Residents on the development in upmarket Cottingham, East Yorks, objected to the sale, reports the Mirror.

She said: “It was going to be our fairy-tale ending. All I wanted was mine and Rachel’s own little palace, a safe haven.

“All the kids were very excited about having their own bedrooms. It was the happy ending we’d dreamed of. It was stopped for some unknown reason. I feel terribly hurt by this.

“What did I do to deserve this sort of discrimination? Maybe I should still buy it and put a big statue of me in the drive with my middle finger up!”

All 10 home owners on the development are directors of Dunswell Park Management Ltd, paying towards grounds maintenance and insurance.

After hearing who was moving in a meeting was held and a vote taken.

They told her in a letter: “The directors of Dunswell Management Ltd have decided to refuse consent to the sale.”

Although they cannot stop her buying the house, Melissa said it left her feeling so “unwanted” and “deeply hurt” that she had no option but to pull out.

Yesterday there were claims that some local residents were so worried about their new neighbour they had offered to buy the house themselves.

One resident has planted around five conifers, creating a shield from the house being sold, though it was unclear if this was directly related to Melissa.

Melissa, who had gender reassignment surgery in 2011 and was formerly known as Les, has become a local celebrity in her home city of Hull after her big windfall.

She also posts bizarre videos online with items such as a bottle of mayonnaise hanging from her chest. In her latest video she used Utterly Butterly instead.

She says she was told the “media attention” surrounding her led to the “rejection”.

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“I feel sorry for the poor lady whose house it is. She’s totally innocent in all this. I know she’s gutted about it. It was a cash sale and they had a house ready to move in to. I feel terrible for them.

“This has caused a lot of distress. The house is now back up for sale and I await to see if the next buyer is good enough for their select community.”

Today the couple selling the house refused to comment. But a local resident close to them said: “They are absolutely gutted about this and furious. They think it’s a complete injustice. Legally this management company cannot stop the sale, but they’ve obviously done enough to make her pull out. It’s an absolute farce.”

According to the source the couple had kept the buyer’s identity a secret to protect Melissa’s privacy and thought the consent was a mere formality.

The source said: “They were told permission had been granted, then days later they got another letter saying they’d ‘rescinded’ the letter of consent and were demanding to know the details of the purchaser.

“Next thing this couple know they’d turned it down. They were devastated. It’s left this couple so worried and so upset.”

Melissa has now made an offer on a new property. She said: “I couldn’t live there now anyway because if they are so against me moving in they will watch us all every moment to try and catch us out. It would be extremely uncomfortable. I think they’ve violated my human rights by saying you can’t live in a property.

“We have the right to be who we want and live where we want without prejudice.”

Several neighbours yesterday denied they were discriminating against Melissa. One, who did not wish to be named, said: “Everyone’s opinion is different, but it’s not the discrimination you’re thinking of.

“It’s the stuff on YouTube really, and the attention-seeking.

“This is a very quiet place and this is a person who wants a lot of attention. It’s not about her being transgender at all. We have nothing against transgender.

Her husband said: “It’s to do with privacy and publicity and security. She seems to strive for publicity. I want a peaceful life, don’t want people driving by.”

His wife added: “Most people here are retired. We’ve nothing against her.”

Several other residents said “no comment” while another said: “There was a board meeting and quite a few abstained.”

Another said the vote was “quite even”.

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Last month, Miss Ede, 57, says she and paranormal investigator Rachel Nason, 37, have now ditched their modest plans for a small register office event for a full-on spectacular.

"It'll be a fantastic wedding," she said.

"At the end of the day, Melissa Ede does everything differently so my wedding will be done differently."

She said: "I'm not Melissa Ede the taxi driver any more, I'm Mel the millionaire.

Miss Ede vowed to continue with her media antics, which have seen her post a range of unusual video clips about her life, which have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times, and also appear on programmes like The Jeremy Kyle Show.

She said the win and her engagement had made Christmas special for the first time in her life.

"Christmases being young were a sad time because I was always getting the presents of a little boy and things like that and I didn't want them," she said.

"Christmas so far in my life has been a terrible time and now every day's Christmas."

She said Ms Nason, who did not join her for a press call near her home in Hull, gave her an engagement ring just after Christmas and she now had a chance to given her one too.

She explained how she had the transition operation seven years ago and now wants to write a book about her "extraordinary life".

Miss Ede said she had told her fiancee that 2017 was going to be the year she became a millionaire and she succeeded on Saturday, with one day to go.

She described how she had £20 when she went to a garage in Hull to buy fuel for her taxi.

After spending £8.91 on diesel, she could not decide whether to buy cigarettes or the £10 National Lottery Blue Scratchcard.